Korina Sanchez
“I don’t believe in burning bridges,” declared broadcast journalist/producer Korina Sanchez, who resumed ties with ABS-CBN almost three years after she went freelance in order to ink a coproduction deal for the news magazine and lifestyle program, “Rated Korina.”
The TV host explained that “coproducing” with ABS-CBN meant she has a say on the content of her show. “Everything is halved down the line—sales, investments and sales transparency. It also gives me an edge about content,” she told a group of writers over lunch recently.
Korina said it had been easy for her to go back to being a Kapamilya because she made sure to maintain a good relationship with her bosses. “That is also the personality I’ve adapted through the years. In fact, most of the guys who started it out with me are still the same guys who are now with me in the new arrangement with ABS -CBN,” she pointed out. “This is also applicable especially now that the most unheard of, the most improbable scenarios are happening—like the closure of ABS-CBN and now the merging of ABS-CBN and GMA 7, or that ABS-CBN programs are also simultaneously seen on TV5.”
“Rated Korina” used to be titled “Rated K” when ABS-CBN began producing it in 2004. Korina said she went freelance in 2020 when the pandemic hit and the Kapamilya network lost its franchise to broadcast. “I never took it against my bosses there when they started downsizing. Many of us were told, ‘You are now freelance.’ Immediately, I went on Facebook and looked for one sponsor to pay for skeletal staff. During the pandemic, all of my interviews were Zoomed. Nabuhay naman,” she recalled.
New deal
Soon after, Brightlight Productions picked up the show and arranged a deal for it to air on both TV5 and A2Z. “Practically, I never really left ABS-CBN because soon after, my show resumed airing there, too, although my producer was already Brightlight,” she explained. “So when it was Brightlight’s turn to downsize, I said, ‘OK, who’s going to be my producer now?’ I can, of course, use my money, but it’s more secure if I have a partner. Besides, where am I going to air?”
Korina, however, pointed out that she would always be grateful to Brightlight because “for the entire pandemic, we were happy.”
She continued: “One time, there was a wake and all of us were there, including (TV host comedian) Vice (Ganda) and Tita Cory (Vidanes, COO for broadcast). I asked Vice how he was and he said, ‘We’re very aggressive with creating content,’ so I said I had wanted to pitch, but felt too shy to do so because, for the longest time, I was merely an employee. Vice said he would try to talk to Tita Cory for me,” she recalled.
A few months later, she received a message from Vice telling her that the network bosses were ready for her concept pitching. “I was so overwhelmed with that one meeting with Carlo Katigbak (president and CEO) and Cory. They said, ‘Welcome back home, Korina!’ That was it. It went really fast,” she said.
The meeting happened in May, about a month before she started airing with ABS-CBN as her coproducer. Present at the formal contract signing to welcome Korina were Cory, Carlo, ABS-CBN chair Mark Lopez, OIC of finance group Vincent Paul Piedad and Korina’s manager Girlie Rodis.
When Korina was asked what lesson she thinks could be learned from this experience, the TV host-producer said: “That the only thing constant is change. In this business, it’s tough to burn bridges. I believe that it’s best to be diplomatic. We don’t know if ABS-CBN will ever reopen, or if they even want to when the time comes that they finally could. Recently, I watched a TED Talks video where a great thinker was asked, ‘What is the most important thing you can teach your child?’ The answer wasn’t love for all or forgiveness, it was being able to adapt to change. That’s the most important thing.”
‘Is TV dying?’
She added: “Back then, we used to carry heavy cameras; now, you’re all using phone cameras for this interview. You can never confidently predict anything, especially with technology now. People kept asking, ‘Is TV dying?’ I kept defending it, even the print media. Now, I’m also a social media influencer. You know, that’s why I pray for energy—because the landscape now is very exhausting. It can be lucrative, yes. You can scratch that creative itch all you want, but you have to have the energy to do more.”
Aside from “Rated Korina,” she is also producing ‘TikTalks,” a talk show that airs on TV5 and “Korina Interviews,” which can be seen both on Net25 and on her YouTube channel.
“I was thrilled that they were all given the green light. It meant providing work to three sets of staff—cameramen, executive producers, associate producers, personal assistants and writers. My training in ABS-CBN, which I consider priceless, enabled me to be a producer of three shows at the same time. Back then, I was the on-cam (talent), but I also did the lighting and editing. I was also the EP, so I handled the numbers as well. I was an all-around. I realized that the job (producer) was hard, but it’s actually manageable,” Korina declared.